Librada Avelino | |
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| Born | Librada Avelino Mañgali January 17, 1873 |
| Died | November 9, 1934 (aged 61) |
| Nationality | Filipina |
| Other names | Ada Avelino |
| Occupation(s) | Teacher, school founder |
| Years active | 1889–1934 |
| Known for | co-founding the Centro Escolar University |
Librada Avelino (January 17, 1873 – November 9, 1934) was a Filipina educator who co-founded the Centro Escolar University. She was the first woman to earn a teaching certificate from the Spanish authorities when she passed her examination in 1889. Continuing her education, Avelino was also certified as a secondary teacher in 1893. After establishing her own girls' school in Pandacan, she was forced to flee to Manila when in 1896, the Philippine Revolution brought troops to Pandacan. Reopening a school in the capital, she operated until the Spain ceded the country to the United States and the educational authorities changed the requirements, implementing English language curricula. To learn English, she agreed to take a post as principal of the Pandacan Girls' School, believing that teaching the language would help her learn it faster. She also took English classes and studied English briefly in Hong Kong in 1901.
In 1907, Avelino joined her friend Carmen de Luna and lawyer/educator Fernando Salas to found the Centro Escolar de Señoritas, a school which organized courses from kindergarten through high school for girls. The school was the first non-parochial institution in the country and based its curriculum on a modern, liberal model, attempting to equalize the education of girls with what was offered to boys. As the school grew, additional buildings were acquired for lectures and dormitories and by 1921 Avelino expanded the offerings to include tertiary, first offering a bachelor's degree program in pharmacy. She was awarded an honorary master's degree in pedagogy by the University of the Philippines in 1930. From 1930, the Centro Escolar de Señoritas operated as an accredited university and was incorporated with a name change to Centro Escolar University in 1932.
Avelino directed the school until shortly before her death from cancer in 1934. There are multiple monuments in the Philippines which bear her name. The Centro Escolar University bestows an award in her honor to Asian women who are recognized leaders. The school which she founded has continued to offer education for over 100 years.